NEWS
OKLAHOMA CITY – Across the country, hospitals and health systems continue to face critical staffing shortages that could jeopardize access to care in the communities they serve. The University of Oklahoma expects to confer degrees to more than 1,200 students from the seven health professions colleges at OU Health Sciences Center who completed their coursework during the spring 2023 semester, summer 2022 session and December 2022 semester, who can now join these hospitals and systems to help alleviate these shortages.
According to the American Hospital Association, the U.S. health care industry will face a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2033. Meanwhile, it will need to hire at least 200,000 nurses a year to meet rising demands.
“Amidst a nationwide health care workforce shortage, we are excited to have so many health professions graduates this year and to announce that the Hudson College of Public Health Bachelor of Public Health degree program and the College of Allied Health are each granting their highest number of degrees ever,” said Gary Raskob, Ph.D., senior vice president and provost of the OU Health Sciences Center. “It is an incredible source of pride to know that the University of Oklahoma is sending hundreds of highly educated health care professionals directly into the field to help meet this great need.”
A total of 1,206 OU Health Sciences Center graduates are expected to be recognized this spring. Of the degrees granted, 505 will be bachelor’s, 29 master’s, 36 doctoral and 636 professional degrees. An additional 31 students will receive college-level certificates, representing numerous health care and science specialty areas. Degrees expected to be granted by the Health Sciences Center this spring include, but are not limited to:
Additionally, the Graduate College expects to confer 29 master’s degrees and 36 doctorates this spring. The graduates from the OU Health Sciences Center Graduate College represent 19 biomedical and health science disciplines. Additionally, the college will recognize its first graduates from the Clinical and Translational Sciences Certificate program. This program develops the research workforce in Oklahoma by training tribal and community health professionals, researchers scientists and clinicians in essential skills for investigating complex human health issues.
The 2023 graduating class also recognizes the highest number of diverse graduates this spring. The College of Pharmacy recognizes its fifth graduating class in a row with a minority-majority student body and has the largest percentage of female and Black graduates in its history. The College of Dentistry has 34% of its graduates self-identifying as non-white with a diverse racial background and the College of Nursing is graduating a class with 40% identifying as from a diverse background. College of Medicine graduates represent 16 different ethnic groups and 41% are females. Of the Physician Assistants graduating, 84% are female and 26% represent underrepresented groups.
OU Health Sciences Center graduate and undergraduate students are invited to participate in Commencement on the OU Norman campus each spring. This year’s Commencement ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, May 12, at The Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, 1185 Asp Ave.
In addition to the Commencement ceremony, all degree-granting colleges at the OU Health Sciences Center will recognize their students during independent convocation ceremonies. Locations and times have been announced by each college, and all ceremonies will also have a livestream option. Additional information is available at ou.edu/commencement.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information visit ou.edu.
About the OU Health Sciences Center
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is one of the nation’s few academic health centers with all health professions colleges — Allied Health, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Graduate Studies and School of Community Medicine. The OU Health Sciences Center serves approximately 4,000 students in more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs on campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa and is the academic and research partner of OU Health, the state’s only comprehensive academic healthcare system. The OU Health Sciences Center is ranked 108 out of over 2,900 institutions in funding received from the National Institutes of Health, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. For more information, visit ouhsc.edu.
